 The next item of business is a debate on motion 8053, in the name of Kevin Stewart on dementia strategy. I would invite those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons and I call on Kevin Stewart to speak to and to move the motion up to 11 minutes, please minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to lead today's debate on the progress that we have made in developing a new dementia strategy for Scotland. This includes the running of our national conversation late last year, where we reached hundreds of individuals, communities and organisations. We are now able to publish a summary of what people told us and to outline how we are working with our national dementia lived experience panel to develop a new story for dementia policy in Scotland. This story will be one that builds on our world-leading commitments, such as the minimum one-year post-diagnostic support that is person-centred and has our communities at its heart. I know that members across the chamber will be keen to hear the progress that we have made and to contribute their own views on what we as a country should aspire to do to ensure that everyone living with dementia and those who provide them care and support are enabled to live fulfilling lives and access their choice of care and support where and when they need it. Approximately 90,000 people are living with dementia in Scotland. We know that, based on predicted demographic changes and trends, that this number is only likely to grow, with one in three people born now likely to go on to develop dementia. It's a neurological condition that is degenerative, affects cognitive functions and for which there is currently no cure. Whilst it is a condition most likely to affect older people, this is not exclusive and more people under 65 are being diagnosed with younger onset dementia. We know the effects of this brain disease as it advances can be traumatic for people living with a condition, for their families and for those who provide care and support. That came through very strongly in our national conversation. However, what was also emphasised to us is that it is a condition with which people can live for decades, continuing to live well at home as active citizens who contribute to their communities. As a Government, we hope that this debate reflects on this range and diversity of experiences and contributions. Improving care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them has been a major ambition of this Government since 2007. Since then, dementia services have been transformed with excellent contributions from staff working across health and social care, the public, the third and the independent sectors. Those developments have been driven by our three previous dementia strategies and a subsequent Covid-19 action plan. Each of those prioritised a continuous journey towards more integrated person-centred care, as well as maintaining a good quality of life for longer for those living with dementia. In addition, we have had a focus on modernising specialist dementia NHS care and more recently supporting the brain health agenda. Our estimate shows that IJB spent £2.6 billion on dementia this financial year. That is an increase of around 13 per cent since 2014. In addition, we have provided additional national investment in dementia post-diagnostic support this year and last. We have written to local service partners to indicate that additional national investment will continue in 23, 24 and beyond, subject to parliamentary approval for overall budgets. That allows us to deliver on our world-leading commitment to provide everyone diagnosed with dementia in Scotland a minimum of a year's post-diagnostic support. Alongside that, we have invested £1 million over two years via Age Scotland to boost and sustain community-led support, such as the excellent Carey Connections meeting centre that I had the pleasure to visit recently. We will continue vital strategic national work on reforming the health and social care system to ensure that joined-up person-centred care is available to enable people to live well in the place that they choose for as long as possible. I will give way. I am grateful to the minister for giving away. It is now almost four years exactly since my mother passed away with dementia. He has mentioned it once, and perhaps he will go on to elaborate it, but it is very important that the individual who has dementia is given appropriate care. I know that there is mention in the feedback that we have received of that. My sister and I did not know how to deal with my mother's dementia because, effectively, she faded away in front of us. It was a hollowing out of our much-loved mother that we had. I am very intervening to ask the minister to bear in mind that families who have members of their family of dementia need proper professional support as well. I hope that that will be baked in to the future strategy. I said at the very beginning that probably every single one of us in this chamber has been touched by some family member or friend who has had to live with dementia, and that is not easy. In all that we do, we not only have to look at those folks who are living with dementia but also the families and those who care for them. I cannot be more clear than that. I have already said that. That will come out. I am quite sure again and again this afternoon. In terms of the continued investment in social care, that amounts to £1.7 billion this year, addressing the unprecedented pressures that are experienced on our health and social care system by providing interim care places and continuing to invest in the development of the primary care workforce. All of those efforts will benefit people living with dementia and those who provide them care and support. The Government has the ambition to go further, and we know that that ambition is shared across this chamber and right across Scotland. There was a clear appetite from a broad range of dementia stakeholders for a new strategy that is clear on priorities and expectations and demonstrates that we have learned lessons from the pandemic and beyond. We also wanted to attempt a new kind of strategy development, building on the years of dedicated work by lived experience-led groups such as Scottish Dementia Working Group and National Dementia Carers Action Network, Stand and Deepness, who have worked to share their experiences and improve policy and practice. We recognise that people living with dementia, their families and those who provide them care, are experts by experience. That is why the strategy is being co-produced with a national dementia lived experience panel, which is made up of 11 people living with dementia and 11 care partners. It broadens even further the opportunities for the voices of lived experience to have their voices heard in the strategy from the very outset and throughout its implementation. I was delighted to listen to the group's deliberations last week at which a draft of the strategy was considered, witnessing the meaningful co-production taking place between the group and government. I am confident that their contributions will move us towards a strategy that truly reflects their ambitions. The initial draft that the group was considering is based on the responses to our national conversation, which ran from September to December last year. Our government listened to people, what their good and bad experiences were, and what they wanted to see in a new strategy, much of which is reflected in our publication today on what people told us. Of course, I do not have time to reflect everything that we heard, but I want to mention some things. People told us about the things that mattered to them and kept them well. Positive experiences of receiving support and care, centred around post-diagnostic support and continuity of care were detailed. That last aspect continuity was seen as a key principle enabling trusting relationships to be built between people living with dementia, their families, carers and professionals. Communities in all of their guises were an incredibly positive aspect of people's experience of living with dementia, from local music groups to more formal meeting centres and dementia resource centres. It is the foundation stone of good positive support and maintaining a sense of connection, dignity and control beyond their diagnosis or care or status. We must also recognise, though, that for many things did not always go the way that they should. That included access to early diagnosis and support, where people find that there can be a lack of awareness from professionals on what dementia is and its impact on people and their families. People's experiences were often of a healthcare system unable to meet their or their family member's individual needs and preferences. There is also an urgent need to change societal attitudes towards people living with dementia and those who provide them care and support. Dementia must no longer be seen as purely a death sentence or something for people to suffer through. We heard that that makes people living with dementia feel that they are no longer valued members of their community and cannot aspire to living fulfilling lives. I will provide more detail on how we go forward in my closing speech, but we are clear that to deliver on the ambition that has been set out in our engagement will require a long-term vision and a shared responsibility for delivery, which will be set out in a new strategy. That will be supplemented by clear short-term deliverables set out in subsequent delivery plans agreed by the end of this year. I look forward to a considered debate that I know will be personal to a number of folks in the chamber on a topic that matters a great deal to so many, including on how we get the balance right between the long-term change that our communities believe is needed, while continuing to do right by people in the here and now. I will allow my speech, if I may, with the voices of lived experience—in that case, a member of our national dementia-lived experience panel. Dementia is an unexpected crossroads in the highway of life. It does not necessarily mean the end. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I move the motion in my name. I now call on Sandra Scohani to speak to and to move amendment 8053.2 up to 7 minutes. Thank you. Dementia is the ongoing decline of brain functioning, typically presenting as memory lost, slowing of thinking speed, mental sharpness, mixing up words. Dementia often leads to trouble with speaking, low mood, anger, difficulty carrying out basic daily activities. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, and this is progressive with symptoms developing gradually over many years until eventually severe. Personality changes such as becoming aggressive, demanding, suspicious of others, hallucination and delusions, low mood and anxiety. Partner's family friends can all become strangers. All too often close family members sacrifice their own well-being to ensure loved ones get the best care they can possibly give. As a GP, I often hear about changing roles in relationships, such as children having to become the parents and take responsibility for financial matters, such as partners having to be main carers, and this can all be quite overwhelming, as Stephen Kerr has highlighted about his own mother. As we get older and our health changes, it's really worth considering setting up a continuing and welfare power of attorney. For everyone listening, this means having a conversation with your loved ones about their needs, about their wishes, because it can be difficult to do once there is a diagnosis of dementia. According to Public Health Scotland, as of 2015, up to 90,000 people in Scotland were affected by dementia, with around 3,000 people under the age of 65, and the number of people dying with dementia is rising. 15 years ago, 3,200 deaths, and this has doubled in just a decade. By 2040, Mary Curie now expects dementia to be the main underlying cause of death. 19,200 deaths per annum, a threefold increase in 17 years. I believe we can all agree we need a more robust dementia strategy in place, with actions and measurable outcomes, and that this should be a priority for government. Dementia policy can't be tinkered with. I also believe that we can all support the principle that people living with dementia must be supported to live their life as they want for as long as they can, and that when they approach the end of life, they should have access to the most appropriate care advice and support. Access to palliative and end-of-life support should be a significant component of our dementia strategy. Under the SNP Scottish Government's last dementia strategy, a key priority was extending access to post-diagnostic support, but delivery was poor. Less than half of the people of newly diagnosed dementia were offered post-diagnostic support. The Western Isles was worse at 28.5%. The SNP Government also announced that the management of an individual's care and support would sit in primary care, led by a dementia link worker, so that people receive timely care. Then the SNP cuts £65 million from the primary care budget. We now have a primary care service that the SNP has been in charge for for 15 years, and we have primary services where 42% of GP practices report that demand substantially exceeds capacity. 34% of practices have at least one GP vacancy, and the BMA estimates Scotland is 312 full-time equivalent GP short. If you listen to Scotland's Auditor General, the SNP is nowhere near on track to achieve the 800 increase in headcount by 2027. This is the SNP in action, bigger announcements, light and delivery. The SNP Green Government has cut £70 million from social care, services that offer crucial support to those suffering from dementia. Whoever is health secretary or in the minister's chair after 27 March must get real. Failures in primary care, delayed discharge and social care have all had severe consequences for the quality of care that people with dementia and their families rely on. We need to find solutions, and that entails political decisions, policy and resources. Plattitudes will not wash, neither will self-congratulatory statements from the Government benches. I appreciate that all politicians in this place will get real. We have just finished a budget process where lots of parties made demands of dementia, and the issue of dementia is personal to me, as is to Stephen Kerr, but it is also not enough to make platitudes from opposite benches saying things should be better and such substantial matters that are personal to all of us and not sure where one penny will come from. I found that profoundly disrespectful to those who have died from dementia, living with dementia and their families. Well, national care service would be a great place to start. Also, one of your leadership candidates is making promises about money that he is going to get fine from, well, you tell me where. At least now, the SNP looks set to bin its widely criticised national care service, as we have just said, and the associated £1.7 billion spend. Despite rigorous defences from Members around the Chamber and from Members in the Health Committee, we can see that the leadership candidates are retreating from this position, leaving, I thought, other SNP Members exposed and fleeing for cover. Humza Yousaf says he will overhaul the plan, despite defending the policy many months ago. Kate Forbes says that Scotland may not need the flagship policy at all, and she is the finance secretary, while Ashragan would immediately pause the plan if she leaves these SNP Members and becomes our First Minister, so perhaps the Member might need to think about that and reflect in his own speech. It seems that Ministers here today are the only ones taking their political reputations on this policy, or have they U-turned as well. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, this year, over 6,000 Scots will die with dementia, and in less than 20 years the number of deaths will rise to over 19,000. We need to do better to support people now and act to ensure that Scotland can support many more with dementia tomorrow. We look forward to taking this forward with whomever is in the job come the end of the month. I move the amendment in my name, and I declare my register of interest as a practising NHS doctor. I now call on Paul O'Kane to speak to and to move amendment 8053.1. Up to six minutes, please, Mr O'Kane. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'm pleased to open this important debate on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party. I'm sure that most, if not all, members in the chamber have been impacted by dementia in some way. Indeed, when I was a student, I worked in a care home as an activities organiser. I know that colleagues will struggle to see me as the home's red coat, but it did allow me, in so many ways, to get a better understanding of people living with dementia and, indeed, to build relationships with our families and to understand something of that illness and of the support that is required to ensure that we work hand in hand with families in order to deliver the care and support that is so needed. Indeed, it's estimated that there are currently 90,000 people in Scotland living with dementia, and, as we've heard new research from Marie Curie, it's estimated that the number of people dying with dementia as the primary underlying cause of death will rise by almost 200 per cent by 2040. Therefore, I wish to begin my remarks today with the areas of consensus that I think exist in terms of this debate. Our public health approach to dementia must recognise and respond to that increasing prevalence of dementia across our society, and it's why we on those benches believe that it is imperative that we have that person-centres approach to dementia, an approach that focuses our energies on empowering people with dementia to continue to live fulfilling life with access to additional care and support when they need it. Any strategy for dementia must first and foremost recognise that people who are living with dementia are human beings, just like you and I, and they have social needs, and they are supported by their loved ones, often who are struggling in their own ways, as I think we've already heard from some contributions, to cope and to find the space to deal with the illness. I think that it's why we must explore how we make our communities more dementia-inclusive and dementia-friendly to allow people with dementia to live at home for as long as they are able to do so. We do support the work of the dementia-friendly communities network, which brings together hundreds of dementia-friendly communities that have made meaningful changes to local villages and towns across Scotland to create those inclusive spaces for people with dementia. When the Government launched its national conversation on a new dementia strategy for Scotland last autumn, we welcomed that development, and we take seriously the responses of people with lived experience, clinicians and third sector organisations and the family carers that I have spoken about. I think that what is clear from the conversation is that people living with dementia and their families need to see action. They need to see tangible signs of progress from the Government, because national conversations become devalued unless they result in substantially improved outcomes for patients. We have had a national conversation, but have we been really listening to what has been said? Despite encouraging rhetoric, the Government's record on delivery has been less than impressive. The SNP has been in power for 15 years, and the first dementia strategy was published 13 years ago. People with dementia and their families are still facing a postcode lottery for diagnosis and postdiagnosis support. The most recent statistics from 2019-20 show that only 42 per cent of people who are newly diagnosed with dementia are referred for postdiagnostic support. During the pandemic, people with dementia and their families were at the centre of that malstrom, not seeing often enough support in their own lives. In some ways, it is reflective of the Government's failures to learn lessons since the implementation of the first national dementia strategy in 2010. I recognise what Mr O'Kane is saying about accessing postdiagnostic support in certain places. That is why the Government has put in an extra £3.5 million per annum to ensure that folk get the support that they need. Beyond that, the proposals that we have in terms of national quality standards should get rid of those postcode lotteries, because I recognise that that is not good enough, where in some places people are getting very good help and support and not that far away folk are not getting that. I recognise what the minister says about that investment, but that was the restoration of previous cuts. It is fair to say. We have already heard the various flavours in the national care service that we have, so we are not clear on what the future of that bill is going to be and how it will address postcode lotteries in the way that the minister suggests. I think that that is a wait-and-see right now, because the reality is that no matter how well intentioned the strategy is—the dementia strategy—it cannot and will not succeed in achieving its aim until the Government gets serious about tackling systemic issues in the NHS and in social care. I, Scottish Labour, have been calling on the Government to end the indignity of dementia patients stuck in hospital when they could be back-living in their house or care home. The issue could be hugely resolved if the Scottish Government took the necessary action to increase the availability of care packages, because at present provision is patchy and access to suitable packages depends on where you live. All of our inboxes have examples of people who are in real need, so we need real action. The Scottish National Party promised to scrap non-residential care charges in their manifestos that are recommended by the independent review on adult social care, and it is time that they took action and delivered that commitment. The Scottish Government must deliver on the social care workforce, because we know that they are the backbone of ensuring that people can live in the care provision that they need. We have called consistently for an immediate pay rise to £12 an hour and going to £15 an hour. If we are serious about rewarding the workforce and increasing staff retention, we have to make that move. A week after week, the minister has derided calls from those benches for £12 an hour, rising to £15 an hour, for social care workers, claiming that it was unreasonable and unaffordable, and yet this afternoon, in the daily record, we have his colleague Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, stating her commitment to deliver us, First Minister, what she steadfastly opposed and refused to introduce, is finance secretary and that is £15 an hour for social care workers, so it is amazing what U-turns, Presiding Officer, can be performed when there is an SNP membership to be won over. Given the Government's track record on delivery, I will not be holding my breath. That is the challenge for the Government. We need to close the gap between rhetoric and what is being delivered to ensure that people living with dementia and their families and carers have an improved quality of life. I am enjoying to the conclusion, Presiding Officer, that it is time for the Scottish Government to get serious about delivering for people with dementia, and that starts by fixing the omni crisis in the NHS and social care. I move the amendment in my name. Thank you. I now call Alex Cole-Hamilton up to four minutes, please. Thank you very much indeed, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to rise for the Liberal Democrats to speak in this important debate. Dementia, as we have heard, is a devastating, often tragic condition. It is exactly a particularly cruel toll on those living with it and those who love and care for them. Dementia is often referred to as the long goodbye, the slow disappearance of cherished memory and the gradual loss of the loved one that you once knew, the physical, mental and spiritual deterioration of that person into a shell of what they once were. Presiding Officer, I cannot imagine how painful it must be visiting a brother or sister, a parent or a grandparent to find that they are no longer recognising who you are. Despite improvements in care and treatment over the years, this devastating illness is not going away. Indeed, by the year 2025 it is estimated that over one million people in the UK will have a dementia diagnosis and that almost all of us will know somebody who is living with that condition. As Scotland's population steadily ages, so too will the number of dementia sufferers grow, and as the number of dementia sufferers rises, a renewed focus and a commitment to sustained funding is essential. Presiding Officer, as such, I would like to turn, if I may, to the Government's Dementia strategy that we discussed today. It is right that the Government has reached out to those with the lived experience of the condition to inform that new strategy. The Government's previous strategy has not been updated since the pandemic, so a renewed focus that takes account of the impact of the Covid years is vital. As with every condition, early diagnosis and intervention are absolutely critical. The interruption to services caused by the pandemic means that many people received a dementia diagnosis much later in their experience of the condition, meaning that their needs are more progressed and acute to the point of diagnosis than would otherwise have been the case. The Government's strategy therefore needs to recognise the particular and unique challenges that recently diagnosed cohort will face and to ensure that they and their families have access to a breadth of support. Presiding Officer, research conducted by Mary Currie has found that by 2040, 10,000 more people will be dying with palliative care needs each year. A large proportion of those are expected to be from dementia sufferers. I would like to echo Mary Currie in her calls to the Government's new dementia strategy. That includes a commitment to support people living with dementia to access the tailored palliative care that they need. We need to make sure that they are supported to live the way that they want to for as long as they can. That is dignity. The Government's strategy must include an improvement in accessible and tailored end-of-life support for people with dementia, with an eye on how the ever-increasing need can be met. That must include care provision in people's own homes and care homes as well as hospices. The previous dementia strategy included commitments to improve palliative care, but that must now be backed by a clear and measurable implementation plan. Is it not the case that there must also be provision for respite for families to allow those suffering from dementia to stay in the home but also to give the dignity of the families that surround and do most of the supportive care? Martin Whitfield is right to bring the attention of the chamber to the fact that much of the unpaid care force in this country is in large part exploited by the state for the love that they have for their families and that they are on their knees in want of a break, so respite absolutely has to be part of that strategy. It must also align with and inform the upcoming palliative and end-of-life care strategies. I am afraid that Mr Coe Hamilton is in his last closing part of his contribution. The Government's motion correctly highlights the vital importance of care in our communities. May I wonder then why they are intent on disempowering the providers of local care in those communities by creating a vast and unnecessary bureaucracy that represents the ministerial takeover of social care in our country instead of rewarding social care staff with better-paying conditions? The Government should scrap those plans today. SNP-scient leadership hopefuls are seemingly lining up to do exactly that, so there is hope yet that social care staff will finally get the support that they need now and not five years down the line. The actress, Phyllis Logan, her self-alongtime supporter of dementia charities, has said that if you find yourself caring for a relative of dementia, the chances are that you will need help. We must also recognise that, so I told that that is taken on the families. I will end here, but, although the Government has a lot still to do, we will be supporting the efforts that they are having during this time. Thank you, Mr Coe Hamilton. I would say before we move to the open debate that there are still some members who I understand may be wishing to speak in the debate who have not yet pressed their request-to-speak buttons. I would invite them to do so now. Thank you. I now call Mary McNair to be followed by Tess White up to four minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to highlight the growing need to improve support to those with dementia. Alzheimer Scotland advises that it is predicted that the number of adults living with dementia worldwide is on course to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050. There are around 90,000 people with dementia in Scotland and it is estimated that it will increase by 50 per cent over the next 15 years. I put on record my appreciation of the work of Alzheimer Scotland and about dementia with Age Scotland. I praise the support that it is given to my constituents through the Clybank and Bersden dementia resource centres. I thank the staff and volunteers of carers of Western Bartonshire and carersLink Eastern Bartonshire for providing an outstanding level of support to carers in my constituency. It is no surprise that most individuals that reply to the consultation were people who are caring or have cared for someone with dementia. That of course means that dementia is having a disproportionate impact on women as they are predominantly the carers. We must make sure that their needs are also fully recognised within the new dementia strategy. From my time as the convener of the Western Bartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership, I know how important it is to involve those impacted by dementia and the design of support and services to meet their needs. That is why I welcome the approach that the Scottish Government is taking to design the new dementia strategy. It will work with people with lived experience so that the voices of people with dementia, their families and carers will shape the new strategy. The responses to the consultation need detailed consideration, but we can already see a range of issues to be addressed by the new strategy. Those include the need to change how we talk about dementia and the importance of the community. The way that we talk about dementia is extremely important. One of the things that has come out loud and clear from the panel is the use of language. Already today, at least one member has talked about dementia sufferers. We all need to start talking about people who are living with dementia. Ms McNair is really... Minister, we are very tight for time. I can give you the time back. The importance of the community gaps between the policy and practice in the postcode lottery impact and the availability of provision of support that has been spoken about and the workforce issues, education and training in the trauma of diagnoses. The change that is needed was summed up by one response that said, in my humble opinion, focus has to move away from entertaining people with dementia to empowering people with dementia by putting the foundations in place to allow someone like me to be more independent, which in turn will enable me and my family to contribute both socially and financially to society to live well as a family with dementia. We know from the response that she shared with us that a means of overcoming self-stigma following diagnosis was being able to talk to others who had gone through the same process. Last night, I read Tony's story on the Alzheimer's Scotland website. That was a blog about his experience with dementia. The Tony in question is Tony Worthington, who was the MP for Clydebank and Mulguy from 1987 to 2005. Since his diagnosis, he has been active in influencing policy through his involvement with the Scottish Dementia working group. In recognising the importance that sharing his story can have in tackling stigma, he has spoken publicly about his experience. It did not surprise me to see him doing this, as I have always greatly respected him. His desire is obviously to seek justice for constituents. I put in record my admiration for him sharing his experience for the benefit of others. Scotland's attract record of supporting people with dementia is shown by our commitment to provide immediate support in the first year after people receive a dementia diagnosis. The new dementia strategy is a real opportunity to build on and improve the provision of support and assistance. It is also a chance to shape change in a way that those who are impacted by dementia want. I can advise the chamber that there is no time in hand when the interventions will need to be incorporated into your time allocation, which will also need to be adhered to. I call Tess White to be followed by Christine Graham up to four minutes. Presiding Officer, my wife and I were carers to two elderly parents with dementia. I have experienced this condition from both sides, as someone with caring responsibilities and as someone seeing firsthand how two wonderful people's lives were increasingly impaired by a loss of independent function. I have also seen how social care staff in the north-east have cared gently and attentively for people living with dementia, and I pay tribute to them today. The Scottish Government needs to back up its rhetoric on valuing social care workers. They are tired of hearing platitudes. There has clearly been some progress in laying the groundwork for a new dementia strategy that is to be welcomed. It will affect upwards of 90,000 people with dementia in Scotland, as well as their carers and, as we have heard today, their families. Dementia symptoms can cause serious confusion and profound frustration for those people who live with them, and they can be very distressing for carers and loved ones. Their experiences need to be addressed in any framework, as we also have heard today. This will also be the fourth strategy since 2010. It is important to point out that the number of patients aged 65 and over has increased by 20 per cent during that period. As the Royal College of Practitioners has emphasised to us, the reality is that the current systems and structures in place across health and social care simply do not have the capacity or the resources to rise to the monumental task ahead. We just are not equipped to deal with it. We have an ageing population in Scotland and serious NHS workforce challenges, from a lack of GPs to shortages of community psychiatric nurses and allied health professionals. We have a chronically under-resourced social care system and a social care recruitment crisis contributing to delayed discharge and bed blocking in our hospitals. It is shocking that a patient in NHS Grampian in my region had their discharge delayed by 2,312 days, but that is just the reality of the system. The proposed national care service is deeply flawed and simply kicks the can down the road, but we need immediate action now. The Royal College of Physicians has also emphasised the wide variation in the number of consultant geriatricians across the country, with the north of Scotland having one geriatrician per 65,000 compared to the national average of one per 36,000. That must change. Meanwhile, less than half of people newly diagnosed with dementia were offered post-diagnostic support during a vulnerable and potentially frightening time. Support should be person-centred, accessible and available, but that is not the reality on the ground. We owe it to people living with dementia to get the fundamentals right to ensure that they have access to early diagnosis and post-diagnostic support, as well as appropriate palliative care as they near the end of their lives, as Mary Curie has called for. They should not have to bear the brunt of the dementia tax and worry about how to cover the cost of their care. We have had more than a decade of dementia strategies, and it is time to start making a real difference. Ms White, I now call Christine Grahame to be followed by Carl Mocken up to four minutes, Ms Grahame. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much welcome a debate on preparing a new dementia strategy because this is a miserable cruel disease and impacts on so many people and is increasing. I have to confess that I am not a big fan of strategies unless and until they convert into practical changes. I have read the paper, though I am disappointed in the lone number of individuals who responded. Citizen space—I do not know how many of the public have heard of that—had just over 139 responses, and I believe that the consultation only ran from September to December last year. It seems to be a low response, given the incidence of dementia in quite a short response window. Like others, I have had friends who have succumbed to dementia and have left their loving partner distraught after years watching their loved one slip away. In the paper, there is the following quote. Dementia is like having a hole where someone used to be. They are gone, but you cannot mourn them and you cannot move on. The lives of those closest to them is held in limbo with guilt affecting every decision of every day. How to? Here, the support of community, addressed in the paper, is crucial, as well as that of professionals. I shall give examples in my own constitutions in a moment, but on language, which the minister referred to, can I plead that dementia should not be referred to as a journey? That is not strictly come dancing. I bold at referring to a dementia journey. Why not the progress of dementia might just be me that seems to me to be a bit more sensitive and respectful? Perhaps it is just me. On the question posed, what supports works well for you? I share this reply from the paper. I had this huge desire to just be able to be in the company of somebody who was going through the same process as me, someone who was having similar experience, who had similar hurdles to climb over and whose mountains to climb were just as high as mine. I needed to hear their experiences. I wanted to find out how they overcame them. How they overcame their difficulties, close quotes. I take you to Cowan Cote in Penicook in Midlothia, and that is a place where the carers have a cup of tea in a chat while their loved ones are being looked after. I have visited and sat with the carers as they had a very brief respite while their loved ones were looked after. We were to chat, but for one woman it was all so traumatic that she simply could not speak. She was so tearful. Such is the unremitting stress 24 hours a day, seven days a week, together with anxiety as to what further damage the disease has done as each day and indeed each night passes. Other examples were initiatives that are alive. Scottish Borders Council, for example, was the first local authority in Scotland to appoint an older people's champion and a people living with dementia champion. As part of her role, Councillor Lain Thornton Nicoll has been responsible for encouraging all her fellow councillors to undertake dementia-friendly training to better understand the needs of people living with it. There is also a Borders Dementia working group, which meets monthly in Gallifields. It is for people living with dementia and their carers who are interested in influencing local and national policy and making the Borders more dementia-friendly. People's memory cafe meets twice a month in forum day unit, providing a friendly, supportive meeting place for anyone affected by dementia to socialise, share stories and enjoy a cup of tea with others. Why those examples? Because I note the minister referred to building on what is there and short-term deliverables close quotes. Can I ask the minister in conclusion if the Scottish Government has undertaken an audit of such initiatives across Scotland? Her population is becoming older on average with each passing year, and with that we have to come to terms with the increased prevalence of dementia and related illnesses. It can be a harrowing diagnosis and one that many of us dread, but there is a lot we can do and we can provide people with dignity. Currently, unfortunately, we are not near enough that standard. An issue like dementia requires serious attention from the top of government, yet the headlines that are often dominated are the internal war going on within the parties, the SNP or the flawed national care service plan that is not worthy of the name. In politics, as politicians, we must do better. We must seek to discuss the things in a way that matters to people in their everyday life—health, education, care and communities. I believe that three national dementia strategies have been published since 2007 with a fourth plan. If you take a close look at the previous plans, a great deal has never been realised, including effective local delivery plans and key commitments on post-diagnostic support. We can see the effects of these broken promises in the day-to-day care of patients, and the toll is taken on those who look after them. To tackle dementia, we need a well-funded care service with well-paid carers. There is no getting away from that. That is why my party repeatedly calls for a decent pay rise for social care workers. The challenge that we must face up to is to provide care for people where and when they need support in a way that works for them. I am well aware that that is easier said than done, but launching strategy after strategy is not a substitute for serious action. I am very concerned that we are two years into the Parliament and that there is very little of the latter. I want to briefly mention that there is a developing international evidence base that highlights the benefits of allied health professionals, professionals' early interventions, supported self-management and rehabilitation as a means of supporting people to live well with dementia for longer. Despite all the innovative, creative and evidence-based work, it is evident that access to allied health professional services remains inconsistent, challenging and, at times, simply not available. More must be done to raise the profile of allied health professional services and to improve access to those essential services. In dementia services, access to AHPs is most definitely a postcode lottery. Finally, since the first dementia strategy was published 13 years ago and, during that time, delayed discharge has become a huge problem, leaving a lot of dementia patients in a state of distress and prolonged discomfort. In many areas, people are victim to a further postcode lottery, where the experience of provision may be vastly different from someone just half an hour away. With that strategy, will that strategy solve those problems or is it just lip service? I think that the public is perfectly justified in asking those questions. To close, many of us will know of a friend or family member or a colleague who has been diagnosed with dementia and witnessed the intolerable toll that it takes on them and their families. Wouldn't it be some support for the Government to deliver on the commitments to remove all non-residential care charges? Using the delayed national care service plan as an excuse for this inaction is just not good enough. Members, let's give people something to be positive about. Let's give those who care for people with dementia a wage that they can build a life on. Let's take some of the cost of care away from those who can barely afford it and let's stop the postcode lottery. We are not asking for much. We are just asking for the Government to make up its own commitments. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Thank you very much indeed. I now call Emma Harper to be followed by Gillian Mackay up to four minutes, Ms Harper. I welcome the debate and indeed the Scottish Government's upcoming dementia strategy. My first job when I left school was in a care home and my first placement as a student nurse was in the care of the elderly module. My experience helps me to understand that there has been lots of knowledge development and changes to care delivery over recent decades for people living with dementia. The commitment from the minister that the Scottish Government will work with people with lived experience of dementia to deliver the strategy that keeps Scotland at the forefront of dementia policy is also welcome. Improving care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them has been a major ambition of the SNP Government since 2007. Since then, services have been transformed with excellent contributions from staff working across health and social care and the wider public, third and independent sectors. Just a fortnight ago in Stranraer, I spoke with a dementia nurse specialist who shared the view that, while progress has been made, we can go much further. I was interested to hear from her that young onset dementia is increasing in Scotland and would ask the minister in closing whether the Scottish Government is addressing that. The Scottish Government's previous dementia strategy made recognition of the importance of taking a person-centred and flexible approach to providing support at all stages of the dementia journey through work on diagnosis and for all stages of the illness and in all care settings. Those principles are important. The Scottish Government wants everyone with dementia to live with good quality of life for longer at home or in a homely setting or a place that they are choosing connected to friends, family and community. I would ask that the next dementia strategy should look at self-directed support. In particular, what stage a person has to be in their dementia journey to receive self-directed support. At the moment, various social work departments apply SDS in different ways and have had several local case work SDS decisions reversed. SDS can be a crucial tool for a commitment that SDS will be looked at as part of the strategy and that its use nationally could be evened out and maybe be a wee bit more fair. The Scottish Government wants more people living with dementia to be able to live well at home for as long as possible and a major forum into housing and dementia published a series of recommendations on living well with the condition last year. Housing does have a huge role to play in supporting people living with dementia to feel safe and able to play an active role in their local communities as their needs change. Lorburn Housing Association in Dumfries and Galloway has built dementia-friendly housing alongside an innovative employment hub on the site of the former Garrick hospital in Stranraer. Young people living at the foyer are expected to be in education and apprenticeship, employment or training and have access to volunteering opportunities within the community. The youth foyer also offers community access to areas that have a state-of-the-art conference facility, breakout spaces and access to wi-fi. The aims of the site are fantastic and I would encourage the Scottish Government to look at the model as it takes forward the new strategy and I would invite the minister to perhaps visit Stranraer and I would be happy to join him. I know, Presiding Officer, that this is a really short debate this afternoon but my focus today was self-directed support. I know that we could have had a longer debate about this this afternoon but I will close there. As we have heard already, over 90,000 people live with dementia in Scotland and that is due to rise by 50 per cent in the next 15 years. We need to establish now how we continue to support people and plan how to staff services to ensure that we have the appropriately qualified workforce in coming years. Before anyone experiences the symptoms of dementia, it is helpful for people to know who is at an increased risk. Many will have seen news articles about the actor Chris Hemsworth. He discovered a genetic factor that puts him as much as 10 times higher risk for developing dementia after being tested as part of a show that he was taking part in. He has spoken about how that has changed his outlook on his career, his honesty and reflection to the risks to him has undoubtedly helped in raising awareness of the condition. We need more awareness raising but I will touch on that more later if I get it. I am not saying that genetically testing everyone is the way forward but we need more research. Supporting and furthering this work is hugely important, especially where people may be at greater risk of certain kinds of dementia. Once someone has been diagnosed, it is important that we offer person-centred support. In their briefing, Age Scotland raised post-diagnostic support and the varied take-up of the offer. Scotland guarantees a year of post-diagnostic support to anyone who receives a diagnosis of dementia. Less than half of those diagnosed in 2019-20 received that support. Pandemic notwithstanding, it would be interesting to understand why that is and to tackle those issues. We also need to ensure that those caring for or supporting someone with a diagnosis is being adequately supported. Those are life-changing diagnoses and the path for everyone is different. Peer support in this context in particular could be of high value to those who need it and has been called for by many of the organisations who have sent briefings. I would like to highlight a few examples of successful projects in my region. As we all know, doctors are prescribing time in the outdoors and in gardens to alleviate mental health problems caused by ill health, isolation, anxiety and loneliness, and that is no different for those with a diagnosis of dementia. In 2015, the dementia garden at Air Bulls Road in Motherwell was developed as a specialist garden for people within the community who have memory issues. The weekly gardening groups, facility health and wellbeing benefits for hospital in-patients, out-patients and community volunteers, many of whom face the greatest risk of health and mental health inequalities. The dementia garden has been a lifeline during a difficult few years as it has enabled participants the opportunity to come and do some gardening, thus improving their mental health. Both Motherwell FC Community Trust and the Falkirk FC Foundation also take part in the popular football memories project. Football memories pioneered by Alzheimer Scotland is for groups of people with dementia to come along and enjoy reminiscing about old games, old players and any other fond memories and interests in football, while their carer can either join in or enjoy a cup of tea and a blether to other carers. There are now over 100 community-based football reminiscence groups in Scotland. Public awareness of dementia and the ways in which it presents would also benefit many of those who are on the dementia journey. Recently, I have heard from many people who have dementia or other illnesses who feel that they are less able to participate in everyday society or do something as simple as take the bus because of the attitudes of others. Those with communication issues may not have been given the time to respond and people judging others on their outward appearance as to whether they should be able to sit in accessible seats, being just some of the examples of everyday barriers. We need to be more tolerant and make people aware of the potential issues that some may face. I hope that the minister may consider an awareness-raising campaign to make people more aware of the condition and hopefully combat some of the issues that people are facing. We have an obligation to ensure that those with dementia have the tools to live well and that their families have the support to deal with whatever may come their way. Thank you very much, Ms Mackay. I now call Bob Doris to be followed by Craig Hoy up to four minutes, Mr Doris. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. In 2015, my mum died from dementia at the Vale of Leven hospital. She has been in a care home for around a year before her passing. I can still remember the denial when as a family we sat with mum and agreed a care home was the best setting for her to continue with her life. I hadn't noticed the moment that I realised mum's decline was so physically and cognitively profound. Perhaps I was just in denial for some time. I have no idea if mum got any post-diagnostic support or what that involved. I don't even remember the first time that vaster dementia was said out loud. Why do I say this? My experience will not be uncommon in the slightest. In any dementia strategy, it must involve and encourage engagement with families, not as a one-off but as an on-going basis. Those who live with dementia do not always share with families and seek to protect their family members despite that dramatic decline, and families are key partners. I worked in partnership with Musical Memory Springburn as part of the on-going Scottish Government consultation process that we are debating the conclusion of here this afternoon to hear from families living with dementia for what they wish to see improved in the system. Musical Memory Springburn uses music, song and dance from Y Canes of your granny after the bus to Mac the Knife and everything, in between. The weekly gathering is hugely beneficial to enable those living with dementia to laugh, to smile and to have joy, to have a life that also told us what they wanted to improve and what they wanted to change. I heard that there was often a network of community support provision and range of activities that were out there if you knew where they were. There was not sufficient signposting and if you could access them to boost your quality of life and to boost your social interaction. Quite often there was a lack of appropriate transport or staffing to be released from care homes or day centres to enable those living with dementia and their families to get to where the activities were. That is clearly an issue. They did mention staffing pressures and pay in a social care setting. On a cross-party basis, none of us disagree with that and we should not pretend that we do disagree with it. Of course, there is an underlying issue there. I also heard from some who spoke positively about the one-year diagnostic support for those living with dementia, but I am concerned that, where that is delivered well, it can still create a cliff edge once that year passes. I heard that there could be a real difference for quality respite care, but it was inconsistent in delivery. I heard that there was a concern that, quite often, support was given in a reactive fashion rather than proactive to support people to live rather than at crisis moments. We heard that also. We need to make sure that the wider community is part of dementia-friendly communities. Of course, day centres, garden centres and other places that we see older and frail people sometimes gathering in large numbers are vitally important, but they are still part of the wider community. We have to remember that as well. Finally, I have not mentioned pallidive care. In the last few days of my mother's life, she was able to have a single room. I was able to stay in that room with her for the past few days, and we had a wonderful service. It is wonderful as you can when your mum is going to die, but not everyone gets that support. That is not possible within the NHS all the time. There is no such thing as a good death when there is vascular dementia involved, because it is just horrible. There is the least worse passing. I was fortunate and privileged to get that at the Villar Leven hospital. We have to make sure that more families and more people living with dementia get that kind of death. If that is not too morbid, I think to say that it is really important. I thank the minister for bringing forward the statement and strategy today. As we have heard today, dementia can be a profoundly distressing condition that sees friends and family members watch their loved ones progressively deteriorate over a sustained period. Over 90,000 people in Scotland are living with dementia today, and that number is alarmingly set to rise by almost 50 per cent by 2040. As Alex Cole-Hamilton said, everybody in this Parliament and beyond will know someone who is living with or who has been lost to dementia. The Scottish Government has a duty to provide those living with dementia with access to the very best standards of care and support in the final years of their lives, as is provided within the NHS for those living with other debilitating medical conditions. The final years of a person with dementia's life should be years of comfort and support for both them and their families and their friends. However, in Scotland today, around 10,000 people living with advanced dementia are responsible for funding their own care up to £69,000 a year. Third sector organisations, including Marie Curie and the Alzheimer's Society in Care Home in Scotland, have called for an end to this policy, which cuts into the final testament of a person with dementia. That is money that they have saved over the course of their life to pass on to their loved ones or to provide legacies for important causes close to their own hearts. That is an opportunity that they will lose because of their condition. Kathy Russell from Care Home Relative Scotland has said, and I quote, "...it is the most regressive tax in the country because it can take 100 per cent of everything you and your spouse have accrued over a lifetime of hard work." According to Marie Curie, four out of five people living with frailty and dementia do not get the palliative care that they need with health and social care workers facing challenges accessing and undertaking palliative and end-of-life care and training in the care homes and in anticipatory care settings. We have heard from members of this Government repeatedly about how a national care service would be a solution to all of those problems, but sadly those working within social care do not believe that to be the case minister are no due leadership contenders in the SNP's present election. The Government's current proposals do nothing to resolve the issues that are prevalent across our social care system, and in fact they will divert money away from the front line and away from much needed dementia care. The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has said that dropping the national care service plans would present the Government with the opportunity to re-evaluate their dementia policy to better support patients and their families as well as to address unequal access to care and taking action to increase the social care workforce. Perhaps when he sums up, the minister might give some reassurance or clarity to those in the social care sector, amid suggestions that the Scottish Government may be delaying stage 1 of the bill in order to be able to further engage and think again, or are they simply potentially delaying the bill in time to bring in a new leader such as Kate Forbes, who may decide to pull the plug on a national care service altogether. Deputy Presiding Officer, a recent report by Unison has found that 71 per cent of social care staff believe that the changes to social care as proposed would be bad with 77 per cent having concerns about its implications for their job security and 64 per cent concerned about its impact on their pension. These are people who are putting in a power of work, who are very uncertain about their future beyond a national care service. The Scottish Government must urgently review its approach to dementia care, to put those living with dementia and their families at the heart of their approach, and divert money away from its plan for a national care service towards much-needed dementia care in Scotland today. Thank you, Mr Hoy. I now call Colin Smith to be followed by Jackie Dunbar up to four minutes, Mr Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The first cross-party group that I joined when I was elected in 2016 was on dementia. Over 90,000 people live with dementia in Scotland. As we have heard, that number is set to rise by 50 per cent in the next 15 years. It touches the lives of so many of our constituents, and I was always immensely grateful for the contribution that made at meetings of the cross-party group from those living with dementia and their loved ones, including Tony Worthington, who Mary McNair mentioned earlier. The experiences were invaluable and at times heartbreaking, but I do not think that I fully appreciated the challenges that they faced until a loved one was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I became their carer. I realised just how unpredictable, how frustrating, how utterly cruel dementia is, how helpless you often feel, and how precious every single minute of every single day is with those you care for. Time is not on the side of those who live with dementia. A new strategy in the future, six years after the last strategy was published, will come too late for many. We need our support now, and that support is not enough at the moment. We did not provide that support for example during the pandemic for our residents in care home, 80 per cent of whom have dementia. When we failed to provide the testing and the PPE for care home staff and residents, we discharged untested hospital patients into care homes and when we failed to do more to facilitate safe visits, especially for those with dementia, cut off from their loved ones, only able to hug them through plastic sheets. We are not providing that support now as another crisis engulfs our care services. A third of beds in my local hospital in Dumfries are occupied by patients whose discharge is delayed by a lack of carers and a lack of care home places. More than 3,000 hours of assessed care are not being covered and the number of care homes and care home places in the region has been cut by a third in the last decade. The health secretary is sticking plaster. Instead of paying our care workers a decent wage, it is to pay health boards to discharge patients not back into their homes where they want to be, but into care homes where very often they do not need to be. In rural areas, a lack of care homes means that those places are often miles from their family. Can you imagine how devastating that is for someone living with dementia not able to go home to familiar surroundings where they feel safe, but instead being sent to a care home cut off from their loved ones? We are also not providing the support for those living with dementia by failing to deliver on existing dementia strategy commitments. Patients across Scotland are still waiting too long for diagnosis and, as we have heard, less than half of those newly diagnosed were referred for a year's post diagnosis support when that support is supposed to be a guarantee. We are not delivering our commitments to deliver free personal care for under 65s, diagnosed with dementia secured through Frank's law and the inspiring campaign of Amanda Capel. Never mind ending that scandal that people with advanced dementia still have to pay care charges when the only reason they need that care is their health condition. Unless we tackle the care crisis, unless we properly resource the commitments in the current dementia strategy, we will not be able to deliver the future strategy that all of us want to see. A strategy that needs to put those living with dementia and, crucially, their carers at its very centre. Will we break down the stigma of dementia by supporting initiatives such as dementia-friendly communities, such as the one in Preswick in my region? Will we recruit the specialists in geriatric medicine, psychiatry and neurology that we need, but we are still short of? Ultimately, will we ensure that everyone living with dementia can make the most of those precious minutes that they have along with their loved ones? I call Jackie Dunbar, who is the final speaker in the open debate, after which we will move to closing speeches. Everybody who has participated in the debate should be present for those, Jackie Dunbar, up to four minutes, please. Only someone living with dementia, their loved ones and their carers fully know the complexities and nuances of dealing with it. The voice of experience is a crucial part of the Scottish Government's policy making process, and ensuring that it is factored into decision making as early as possible is key to improving services across the country. As such, this is the first step towards a new dementia strategy. Folk living with dementia, their families and carers have been given the opportunity to spell out what is important to them, what needs to change and how to build on the first dementia strategy in 2010. As the minister has already outlined, the national conversation included a series of online and in-person discussions to make it easy as possible to contribute, and the responses will feed into the new strategy to be published in 2023. That has been driven by the national dementia lived experience panel, which will provide tangible ways to improve the lives of those living with the condition, as shown by its world-leading commitment to provide immediate support in the first year after folk receive a dementia diagnosis. An estimated £2.2 billion is spent on dementia annually, and from last year the Scottish Government allocated an additional £3.5 million to boost post-diagnostic services. Additionally, the Scottish Government is investing £1 million over two years via Age Scotland to boost and expand community-based resources. That work is, of course, welcome, but as we move forward with this refreshed strategy, we must continue to further enhance care and support. Improving care and support for folk with dementia and those who care for them has been a major ambition of the SNP Government since 2007. Since then, dementia services have been transformed with excellent contributions from staff working right across health and social care, the wider public, third and independent sectors. The Scottish Government's previous dementia strategy focused on the quality of care for folk living with dementia and their families through work on diagnosis. It gave recognition of the importance of taking a person-centred inflexible approach to providing support at all stages of the dementia journey through work on diagnosis and for all stages of the illness and in all care settings. I want to briefly touch on football and sport. The Scottish Government supports the Scottish FA's stance and new guidance against heading the ball during practice sessions on either side of match day. The Scottish Government is aware of the Scottish FA's on-going assessment of growing evidence based on the links between head injuries and the earlier onset of dementia. Any actions that can be taken to help folk to reduce head injury and the potential increased risk of developing dementia, especially head injuries, is welcomed. That is particularly important in rugby. In other footballing bodies, sporting bodies and nations need to look at what the Scottish FA is doing and make changes to support the health of their players. I think that that should form part of the Scottish Government's strategy. One final point is that I want to thank the Aberdeen Dementia Resource Centre for all the work that they do each day to support folk and their families who are impacted by dementia in the city. The centre supports folk with dementia at any stage of the illness. The team are fantastic and deserve a huge thanks for all that they do. In closing, I again welcome this debate and the Government's dementia strategy. We now move to closing speeches and I call First Paul Sweeney up to six minutes. It has been truly moving to listen to so many insights and often heart wrenching testimony from colleagues about the impact of this cruel disease. To realise just how widespread it truly is in our communities, I was thinking of the numbers that were mentioned around 90,000 of our fellow Scots living with dementia, equivalent to a town the size of Paisley. If you were to factor in then the people who are then caring responsibilities would very quickly grow to the city the size of Aberdeen and Dundee combined perhaps. A very big number of our fellow citizens are living with this condition in one way or another, either directly or having a caring responsibility. We owe it to all of them to build the resilience in our healthcare system, to support them through what can often be an extremely distressing and disorientating and difficult experience, as has been mentioned by members today. Mr Kerl, the member for Central Scotland, described his mother as fading away. The member for Edinburgh, Western, referred to the long, goodbye, very difficult process of trying to come to terms with this condition. One of the biggest challenges is being able to share that with someone initially, dealing with the diagnosis. It was concerning to hear from Gillian Mackay, the member for Central Scotland, on the number of people who get that post-diagnosis support being so low. I think that it is only around 42 to 43 per cent access that when we do not understand why. Maybe it is because the symptoms are mild at that initial stage of diagnosis. Perhaps it is something else. Perhaps there is not the capacity in the system. We need to understand more about what is going on there. We also need to improve the resilience around people, particularly preparing for the future. Things like power of attorney often end up becoming an impediment to discharge from hospitals, which causes further issues in the system. Those are areas of deep concern. Not only that, we have described the issue of capacity in our care homes. Particularly workforce challenges, as my colleague Carol Mawr, the member for South Scotland, described the issue of the need to pay care professionals appropriately to build capacity in our system, to allow people to have a proper professional career, and that will in itself build that network that is so sorely needed. It was reassuring to hear the member for Skyroloch Abernbadanoff describe this as a key plank of her bid to become the next First Minister. I hope that the Minister sitting before us today in the chamber will agree with that endeavour. Indeed, it has been a long-standing policy of the Labour Party. Our amendment to the Government motion is intending to be constructive. It is intending to add extra depth to the Government motion. I hope that the minister will accept it in the spirit that is intended. Indeed, I believe that the member for Midlothian Southwydale and Lauderdale mentioned that she was not a fan of strategies without clear constructive actions. We need to hold the Government to account on delivery of clear tangible benefits. It is a symptom of our own progress as a nation. As we have seen, life expectancy has increased. As we have seen triumphs in medical science improve in so many ways, it makes other conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders more of a challenge to deal with. We need to get to grips with that in our entire healthcare system. We need to change the centre of gravity of the traditional national health model from a hospital-centric one to more prevention within communities. That is at the crux of what many members have said today. The member for Mary Helen Springburn spoke about the need to support community-based activity. I was particularly touched by his reference to musical memories in Springburn. I have often heard it described that when a person dies, a library is burned, but that can often be a very slow burn over many years for people. However, what a wonderful treasure trove of insights, knowledge and love that you can share through that process and the idea that it is never really a good death in those circumstances, but it can certainly be much better than is often experienced in Scotland today. One example that is actually taken off quite remarkably in Scotland was a viral Facebook page created by a gentleman in Edinburgh, Lost Edinburgh, which is now widely viewed across Scotland. There is a similar page in Glasgow, Lost Glasgow, run by a friend of mine, Norrie Wilson. It actually started as an attempt to make a DVD of old pictures of Edinburgh so that his dad could talk about them with him, because he could not remember things that he talked about 10 minutes before, but he could talk in great detail about his childhood, his relationships and he got an amazing insight to his younger years, which he would not have experienced otherwise. Even building that kind of means of interaction is quite a powerful experience. It is an amazing priceless archive of knowledge that we can share with each other, and that will be something that will add a great quality to relationships. I think that there is much that we can do to build that community resilience and to support people. It is something that is necessary. It was mentioned by many members today about the need for respite, the need for support for the people who care, and most certainly one of the things that my mum told me about when she was growing up was the tragedy of her uncle having to care for her aunt, who had suffered from dementia to the point where he could not take it any more on the end of his own life. Having to be constantly triggered by the loss of the dearest person in your life in front of you every day must be a deeply distressing experience, so giving that capacity support to those people is essential. We are prepared to support the Conservative amendment as well as the Government motion, and we hope that we can work together to build that resilience in the Scottish healthcare system. Many thanks, Mr Swinney. I now call on Sue Webber to wind up for around seven minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to have the chance to close this debate for the Scottish Conservatives today. As we have heard today, dementia is a debilitating condition with over 90,000 people living in Scotland with dementia today. It has been among the leading causes of death in Scotland for several years, and research by Marie Curie found that by 2040 people dying from dementia as the main underlying cause of their death is expected to rise by a staggering 185 per cent. The minister reminded us in his open remarks that there is no cure and that people, importantly, can live for decades with dementia. It is really important that we give these people the best quality of life possible. No one disagrees that people in social care with dementia have complex needs, and we have heard testimonies from across the chamber today from people with direct experience of their loved ones. We must pay more—sorry, let me say that again—that the people in social care with dementia have complex needs. They often must pay more than other residents. Despite some Scots paying up to £69,000 a year for social care Scotland at costs associated with dementia, this Government has taken no direct action on this. Marie Curie, the Alzheimer's Society and Care Home Relatives Scotland, have called for an end to this policy, and the Scottish Government has pledged to review the fees for people suffering from dementia and what they have to pay for their social care. Tess White, in addition to her personal experience that she shared, mentioned that the fact that we have an ageing population in Scotland but that we also have a chronically under-resourced social care system and a social care recruitment crisis. We hear that across the chamber in many of our healthcare debates. She said that we are not equipped to deal with it. However, the Scottish National Party Government has cut £65 million from the primary care budget and £70 million from social care, both of which have offered crucial support to those suffering from dementia. My colleague Dr Gohani mentioned a dementia link worker, which is a real tangible practical example of what this money could fund. Statistically, one in three of us will either be directly or indirectly impacted by dementia in our lives, but those with dementia are still very much part of the community, and we must treat them with dignity and respect. I recognise the minister's comments on the language that she used. However, the reality is that, if you ask families about living with dementia, they do not recognise that term. I am sorry, but they feel like they are suffering with dementia due to the reduced hours of care, the shortages of care staff, no overnight care, no respite, as mentioned, by Alex Cole-Hamilton, Martin Footfield, and no local council facilities. The minister has himself stated that support should be person-centred, accessible and available, but, really, sadly, that is not the reality on the ground. Yes, I will, Mr Doris. Just very briefly on that point, when I was hearing suffering from dementia and living with dementia, from my personal experience, the reason I would like to use living with dementia is that family members never know the memories that you gain until your loved one is no longer with you, and you hold on to those in the last few months of their lives. It is when you look back and you seize those, so living with dementia, you and your family is vitally important to have those memories of your loved one is no longer with you. Sue Webber. Thank you, Mr Doris, and, yes, I really do recognise that that is what we want to present, but, unfortunately, what is being felt on the ground is some way from that, and I think that we need to really be accepting that that is what's actually happening. My colleague Craig Hoy said that the final years of a person with dementia's life should be years of comfort and support for both them and their friends and families. That goes some way to address your points again, Mr Doris, and we spoke about the changing roles that are experienced within families when they have a family member with dementia. Mr O'Kane spoke about some local developments in his area that really help communities have inclusive spaces and enjoy, allow people to stay in their own homes for longer, which is really important. Local initiatives are often vital for those living with dementia, and there's one brilliant one in my region that I want to talk about, and it's an organisation that's close to my heart. It's dementia-friendly Pentlands. It's a voluntary organisation that covers Juniper Green, Currie and Ballerno, and we have an ageing population with an older demographic. It supports families living with dementia, and it was initiated and set up by two inspiring people, Alistair McKillop and Kay Latimer. The idea was born out of a desire to give people living with dementia a stronger presence in their local community by building communities that are safe, supportive, strong and resilient. Enough to support people living with dementia and their carers, creating a community where everyone is included, where everyone can experience a sense of belonging, and where they can all express themselves is critical to the efforts of dementia-friendly Pentlands. Christine Grahame spoke passionately about many initiatives in the Borders as well. Dementia-friendly Pentlands has a community cafe called The Meeting Place, and it's just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Rather than placing those living with dementia in a dementia-only environment, The Meeting Place actively encourages all of those over 65 to come along and drop in, and it really ensures that the cafe is truly inclusive. Although I'm not over 65, I did visit there last summer for the Placerum Jubilee Party, which was attended by young people from a local primary school. There were lots of cakes and there was singing. On other occasions when I've been, albeit not last summer, there's also some curling. It's not on ice, it's in with little discs and things. It's good fun. I think that that was it. It's about having fun and making everyone have fun in that moment and forget some of the challenges that they're going through. Let's not lose sight of the fact that there is a need for serious action to improve outcomes and boost the research into this condition. The Scottish Government must review its approach to dementia care and pull out all the stops to tackle this horrible disease, and we will be supporting the Scottish Government motion. However, having a world-leading commitment is not enough. Carol Mocken has stated that strategy after strategy is not an alternative for action. Commitment is not enough and it is about delivery and helping those with dementia now. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I'm grateful to all colleagues who have participated in the debate, as well as giving my thanks to those organisations who have helped to inform today's discussions with briefings. In 2022, the World Health Organization declared dementia a global public health priority. As an ageing population, Scotland's new dementia strategy will be everyone's story, and this has been reflected by the range of contributions in today's debate. Getting a new dementia strategy right requires us to listen and to take in all the views on how best we do this. Throughout this process, we have sought to reflect what people have told us, and that will include today's deliberations. That is probably where I will stray completely and utterly from the remarks that I had planned to make today, because some of the contributions today were immensely important. In some cases, I think that all of us here have to continue to listen a little bit more. On the language aspect, I will give it to Mr Hoy. It's good to hear that the minister is listening. Obviously, there have been significant concerns raised about a national care service. Would he like to comment on the report running on the BBC online at the moment that says that the national care service stage 1 is going to be paused until after the SNP leadership election? If that is the case, isn't it the case that his care service is a dead duck? I will come to that in a minute. I want to make some important points about that strategy. There has just been a debate around the use of language. It is not me asking folk to change their use of language here. It is people who are living with dementia. It is the organisations that are representing these people. I would suggest to members that they might want to go on to the Alzheimer's Scotland website to look at their dementia language guidelines. I think that it is absolutely essential that we get these things right. Not me asking for these changes is people themselves that are asking for those changes. On listening, I have a feeling that some folk may have been listening into the conversations that I had the other week with the lived experience panel. Many of the points that have been made in this debate are points that have been made by folks with lived experience. Let me turn to some of that, because Gillian Mackay talked of an awareness-raising campaign. I have to say that one of the members of the panel said to me that we need an awareness-raising campaign similar to the one that you recently ran for autism. I agree with that. That meeting was last week. This week I have been in discussion with officials about how we can go about finding the resource and putting in place that awareness-raising campaign. That is important so that communities and people out there understand dementia. We have also had contributions from others about other aspects that were raised by the panel. Emma Harper talked about young onset dementia, and we have a lot of work to do there. She also mentioned housing. I am glad to see Shona Robison here at the end of the debate, because while I was housing minister we were working on making changes in design for specialised housing to take account of dementia. I know that Ms Robison is carrying on that work, and that is really important in keeping folk at home. The minister speaks about the importance of keeping people at home. Does he accept that to do that? There has to be good quality care packages, and we need to retain care workers in the system by paying them £15 an hour. Does he agree with the finance secretary's current position that she would support £15 an hour for care workers? Obviously, he did not in previous exchanges with me across the floor of the chamber. I believe in the collective responsibility of government. What I will say is that myself and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care have done all that we can to increase resourcing for care workers, and we will continue to do so as we move forward. I believe that, in order for us to ensure that we have the right care system for the future, we have to go further and pay in conditions. I will finish on that point first of all. We have to go further and pay in conditions. That is one of the reasons for the national care service to allow for sexual bargaining. A lot of the issues that have come up today are pertinent to what we are trying to do with national care service. Again, I wish that folk could have listened to the lived experience panel, who are very much in favour of those changes, or even joined me today at the Glasgow Disability Alliance, where there are 100 to 200 folk there who want to see the change that national care service brings. I am not going to give way, because I have finished on that point. You brought it up, so I am finishing on that point. Not for the first time, the political editor of the BBC has released news on social media this afternoon about a significant Government U-turn, which is opposite to this debate, which the minister-in-charge has been asked to direct question by intervention from Craig Hoy, and which he is singularly avoiding on the floor of the Scottish Parliament. He has the opportunity to establish the veracity of the claims by the BBC as to whether the national care service bill will be delayed. I never ignore— Sorry, can I just address Mr Cole-Hamilton's point of order? The member refers to footage that I have not yet seen. I would, of course, always point out that it is a matter of courtesy and respect that responses should address the specific details of questions put minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I haven't seen the footage that Mr Cole-Hamilton talks of, either, but I have written to the convener of the committee of this Parliament outlining a number of things. Whether that is being reported, I do not know, convener, but I always respect this Parliament and let Parliament know what we are doing. Let me cover the other points about national care service. A number of the issues that have come up here today are really important, including the right to breaks, which I think Martin Whitfield talked of—rights to visits, which someone else mentioned—and the end to postcode lotteries. All of those are part of the improvements that we have proposed as part of the national care service. If you want right to breaks, if you want right to visits, we need to make those changes. Presiding Officer, I am nearing the end of my time. I am particularly so—I will be here for a while in that regard, do not you want it? What I would say is, Presiding Officer, that we have had a fairly good debate today until politics has come into play at the last minute here. I have to say that that is disappointing, because I hoped to go over more ground of what the voices of lived experience have told us and what that panel are doing in terms of helping to make life better for everyone. I know that that panel will hold our feet to the fire. I know that they will work tirelessly with the Government and other partners to create and deliver a new strategy that befits the efforts of this group and beyond. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer.